Join us for the 2017 Farm at St. Joe’s Summer CSA program!

Definition: If you haven’t heard of them CSAs, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, are a way for farms to connect directly with customers. Typically, farms offer a set number of “shares” which customers can purchase at the beginning of the season. Then customers come pick up their share each week for a set number of weeks. By buying into a CSA you are sharing in the season’s produce and also sharing in the inherent risk of farming. This means that there can be crop failures due to weather etc leading to a different distribution of produce. For example, last year was a horrible year for potatoes and onions due to the drought so participants didn’t get very many. On the other hand, it was a fantastic year for broccoli so there was a lot of that.

What: 2017 Summer CSA. Get a bag of produce from the Farm! The produce in the shares changes through the season. The share will start with spring crops (head lettuce, greens), move to summer fruits (tomatoes, peppers), and transition to late summer/fall crops (broccoli, squash). Learn more about crop availability in this nifty chart. Our CSA is collaborative, meaning that many small local farms contribute produce. Note that fruit is not a common crop for small farms in the area so it will not be a large part of the share.

**New this year** we are offering two sizes!

Whole share: Pick up every week for 20 weeks. Cost is $20 a week ($400). This is a big chunk of change and I’m happy to take payments in installments. Sign up here

Half share: Pick up every other week for 20 weeks. Cost is $20 a week ($200). This is a good amount of food for a smaller family or a single person. Sign up here

Who: Anyone!

When: June 21-November 1st.

How: This is a self-serve CSA, meaning that you will be able to pick your shares (a bag of produce) up from a cooler at the Farm any time from  Thursday mornings to the following Monday at noon. Check out the video.

Arugula peeking out!

How to participate: 

Step 1: Fill out the appropriate form:

Whole share

Half share

Important: by filling out the form, you are committing to paying for the share and picking up.

Step 2: Payment

The share is $20/ week for 10 weeks (half share) or 20 weeks (whole share). You must pay by June 15 or your spot will be given away ! Options include:

1.Come to the Wednesday Farmer’s market (11-1) and pay with cash, check, credit card or payroll deduct.

2.Bring cash or check (made out to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital) to the Farm. I am installing a wall-mounted lock box next week.

3. Send via mail/interdepartmental mail to Amanda ( 5333 McAuley Drive Reichert Health Building Suite 1117, Ypsilanti MI 48197).Questions? Email or call Amanda at Amanda.Sweetman@stjoeshealth.org or 712-4667